Past Fictions (Future Realities)

In support of OCAD University’s Sculpture/Installation Program 

ON VIEW APRIL 3 – 19, 2014

OPENING RECEPTION:  2 – 5 PM SATURDAY, APRIL 5

Past Fictions (Future Realities) highlights the mixed and multi media work of OCAD Sculpture and Installation thesis students Amanda De Castro, Emily Moriarty, Aaron Robitaille and Clara Urech.  These emerging sculptors explore and push the limitations of material, time and process.  Their works speak to a range of pressing issues that infiltrate our world, including the pervasive influence of popular culture on the contemporary psyche, body image, and the consequences of repetitive gesture both on today’s fine art, and within our daily lives.

AMANDA DE CASTRO
Drawing on iconic Hollywood film, Amanda De Castro’s interactive electronic sculptures aestheticize the clouded exchange that takes place in the cross over between reality and popular culture.  Her exploration of pop culture and rep cinema includes sculptural objects, performance, and text-based work.

EMILY MORIARTY
Emily Moriarty explores repetition of prosaic activities as a means of understanding societal apathy.  Her interest in ritualized action is primarily expressed through solitary performances, which culminate in extremely pared-down, minimal sculptural objects.

AARON ROBITAILLE
As with Moriarty, Aaron Robitaille’s practice is firmly rooted in process-based art. Robitaille’s objects reflect a cyclical course of creation, wherein the essence of an object is distilled through the interpretive rebuilding of its form using its quintessential social signifier.

CLARA URECH
Life size figurative sculptures by Clara Urech manifest the disconnect between the internal perception of self and that of the outside world omnipresent in western culture. Her meticulously crafted, expressive figures place a strong emphasis on artifact reproduction, textiles and casting, processes which Urech employs to compare historical and contemporary view-points.